Broken
by redsandman99
Summary: It broke Matt's heart to see Jeff so broken. "What happened to you Jeff?" he asked. "Where did you go? Who hurt you like this?"
1. Chapter 1

Matt had been sitting on Jeff's bed for the past hour. His heart was aching inside his chest. Jeff had been missing for a year now. Nobody knew where he was. The last time Matt had seen him, they had gotten into a fight over the fact that Jeff was starting to neglect everybody around him again, just like he did when he gotten into trouble with the drugs. Jeff had gotten mad because he thought Matt was blowing things out of proportion. Matt had gotten mad because he believed Jeff was not taking anything seriously. They had gotten into a nasty argument and Jeff had stormed out. That was the last time Matt had seen him.

Everybody was worried sick. At first some people in the locker room Jeff was being his usual slacker self. But when the police discovered specks of Jeff's blood by his car in the hotel parking garage, people started singing another tune. Vince himself had gotten involved in the investigation; he hired some of the best private detectives in the country to help look for Jeff. But none of it had done any good. Jeff was still gone, and people were starting to think he was never coming back.

Matt didn't want to believe that though. He wanted to believe Jeff was still alive out there somewhere. Actually, he was way past wanting to believe that; he NEEDED to believe it. He needed to believe it, because the guilt was too much to bear already. He held himself responsible for Jeff's disappearance. It was his stupid need to nag at Jeff that had driven his little brother out the door. If something absolutely terrible had happened to Jeff just because he couldn't keep his mouth shut…he would probably die of guilt and self hatred.

"Son?" Gil said as he entered the room. "Matt?"

"What?" Matt said emotionlessly.

"You need to stop doing this to yourself. It's not your fault that Jeff disappeared."

"Yes it is. I made him walk. I could have just kept my mouth shut and he never would have gone into that parking garage. Now he's gone and we don't know where he is."

"You did not cause this. I know that's what you think but it isn't true."

Matt just shook his head. His dad didn't understand. Nobody understood. How could they? They hadn't said the terrible things to Jeff that he had said. Nobody but him had yelled at Jeff like that. This was all his fault and there wasn't anything anybody could say to change his mind about that.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The chain around Jeff's neck felt very heavy. He had been laying in the cold, dark basement for God knows how long now. His body was weak from starvation and his voice was gone from screaming. He hadn't been screaming for help; he had given up on that a long time ago. Nobody was going to find him out in the middle of nowhere. He had just been screaming because of the pain. It had been too much to bear. It always was.

Footsteps coming down the stairs made his heart begin to race. He didn't have the strength to back himself up against the wall. He just tried to shield himself as best as he could with his arms, praying that this session was the final one. All he wanted to do was die. He had to die because he couldn't stand the pain of living through this hell anymore.

"You man, look what that sick fuck has down here!" an unfamiliar voice said. Judging from the accent, he was from some Hispanic country. "Jose! He has a naked dude chained up down here."

There were more footsteps coming down the stairs. "Yeah I know," a guy replied. He must have been Jose. "Robert's got some serious mental problems."

"So what do we do with him?" the first guy asked. "Should we just leave him here? I mean, he's not what we're after."

Jeff shut his eyes tightly and began to shake violently. They were standing way too close to him. He was so scared that he could barely breathe. If Robert came back and saw they were there he was going to go nuts. He was going to kill them and then he was going to come after Jeff. Jeff shuddered at the very thought of it. His captor had a terribly violent temper.

"Would you listen to yourself Carlos?" Jose said in disbelief. "Leave him here? This guy is going to die if we leave him here. Just because we deal drugs doesn't mean we have to be completely heartless."

Jeff flinched violently as the two men knelt down beside him. "Hey man," Jose said. "You wouldn't happen to know where Robert put the keys to your chains now would you?"

"He probably took them with him," Carlos said. "But I think I can pick the lock on this thing."

_Don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me_, Jeff begged over and over again inside his head. His voice refused to work right so he could say it out loud. He continued shaking as Carlos worked on getting the chain off his neck. _Oh God please hurry. Please get me out of here before Robert comes home. If he sees them messing with his property he's going to be so angry_.

"You know, this guy looks very familiar," Jose commented. "I've seen him somewhere before but I don't remember where."

"What, is he like an actor or something?" Carlos asked. He got the cuff of the chain to open up and he took if off Jeff's neck.

"No, I think he's a wrestler or something. I think he works for the WWE."

"You think?"

"I don't watch wrestling. My girlfriend watches it." He studied Jeff more carefully. "I think this guy is Jeff Hardy or somebody like that." He tapped Jeff's arm to get his full attention. "Hey, are you Jeff Hardy?"

Jeff nodded slightly. He managed to stand up on his feet only to nearly fall back down. Carlos caught him and Jose grabbed some clothes for him. He managed to get dress somehow. In all honesty, he was running on the last bit of adrenaline he had left. He was out of the chains and he had a chance to escape. It was probably going to be his only chance and he had to get moving.

Every step he took felt like agony. He managed to get up the stairs and into the living room before he froze. He could see Robert's car coming back towards the cabin. "No," Jeff moaned hoarsely. "No no no." He stumbled into the kitchen and out the back door. He didn't even bother to worry about Jose and Carlos. He had to get running. He had to get as much distance between himself and the cabin before Robert realized he was gone.

Tree branches hit him in the face and the ground hurt his feet. There hadn't been any shoes for him to put on in the basement. Hell, there hadn't even been clothes down there until Robert forgot to put his laundry away. It made Jeff sick to his stomach to be wearing Robert's clothes but he hadn't had much of a choice in the matter.

"JEFF!" Robert's voice was so loud and angry it could be heard for miles around. "JEFF, YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW OR YOU'LL BE SORRY!"

Jeff didn't dare stop running for a second. His legs felt like they were going to give out on him, but the fear of the punishment that would take place if he got caught was enough to keep him going. He ran until he found himself standing in the middle of a highway. "Help me," he tried to scream, even though it only came out as a croaky whisper. "Somebody help me."

The sound of a car startled him so badly that he fell down in surprise. He was positively certain it was Robert and he was scared to death. He could barely breathe. Robert was going to kill him right here and he didn't even have the strength to try to get away.

A police car stopped right by Jeff. "Sir, are you alright?" the officer asked. He approached Jeff slowly. "Sir?"

Jeff slowly began to crawl towards the man. "Help me," he begged. "Get me out of here." He made it about halfway there but he finally ran out of energy completely. He laid himself out on the ground and faded into the black, which was the only source of piece in the hell that was his life.


	2. Chapter 2

Ever since Jeff's disappearance, Matt's passion for wrestling had been broken. He just didn't have the same fire he used to. How could he? Wrestling had been he and Jeff's dream for as long as he could remember. Now that Jeff was gone, it felt like his dream had been broken too. Everyone could see it. Everyone knew the old Matt Hardy was gone. The fans and wrestlers were sympathetic to him, which didn't make him feel any better. He didn't want their sympathy. He just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

He felt nothing as the bell ran, signifying the end of the match. He and R-Truth had just defeated Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel Jackson in a tag team match. The match itself had been okay, but it was obvious to himself and everyone else he was just going through the motions. He also knew that there was serious talk of him either having to take a sabbatical or just being released from his contract all together. Sadly, he couldn't bring himself to care about either one of those choices.

Shane Helms was waiting for him when he got backstage. "Hey man, can we talk?"

Matt shrugged. "I don't care." He started walking back towards his dressing room. All he wanted to do was get his stuff and get the hell out of the arena.

Shane sighed as he followed Matt. "Look man, I think you should ask for some time off. We all know you're hurting, and Vince and them will understand if you want to take a break."

"Uh huh," Matt said, not really listening. He changed back into his regular clothes and put all his gear in his bag.

"I know you miss him, but you can't stop living. You're killing yourself by doing this."

Matt glared at his long time friend. "Thanks for the advice. Can I go?"

Shane sighed in defeat and let Matt pass. Matt escaped from the arena as fast as he could. He got into his car and was just about to start it when his phone rang. "Hello?"

"They found him," Gil said immediately. "He's been found. Jeff's alive."

Matt just sat there, completely stunned. "What?"

"They found him out on a highway in Virginia. He's at Mercy Hospital in Richmond. Shannon's driving me to the airport now. How soon can you get there?"

"I'm already on my way," Matt said. He could not believe it. He felt like he was dreaming. _If I am dreaming, don't let me wake up_, he prayed to himself.

XXXXXXXXX

Matt caught the first flight out to Richmond that he could get on and he was at the hospital by the morning. "Excuse me," he said to the young receptionist. "Can you tell me what room Jeff Hardy is in?"

She looked up at him. "And you are?"

"His brother Matt."

She nodded and checked on her computer. "He's in room 235."

Matt thanked her and quickly went towards the room. As he approached the room, he could hear Gil and Shannon talking quietly. He went into the room without knocking and stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh God," he whispered.

Jeff did not look like himself. His eyes were sunken in, his hair was limp blonde rag on his head and he looked like a set of bones with some skin over it. It literally looked like he had lost a good fifty to sixty pounds.

"We had to put a feeding tube in him," Gil said quietly. It was obviously hurting him to see Jeff like this. "The doctors were afraid he was going to starve and he couldn't eat by himself. He's too weak."

Matt approached Jeff slowly. "Hey baby brother," he said quietly. He reached out to touch Jeff's arm.

Jeff flinched violently and shrink down into the bed. He looked wildly at the people surrounding him, unable to comprehend that he was safe now.

Matt felt his heart break in two. It hurt him to see Jeff so broken like this. "Where did you go Jeff?" he asked. "Who did this to you?"

Jeff didn't answer. Whether it was because he couldn't, or he wouldn't, Matt didn't know. All he knew was that this wasn't exactly the reunion he had in mind. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He hugged Jeff gently. "I'm sorry." He just kept repeating that over and over again, the guilt becoming worse than before. Whatever had happened to Jeff had nearly killed him physically and obviously killed his spirit.

The Jeff Hardy they all knew and loved was gone for some reason…and Matt felt like he was to blame.


	3. Chapter 3

_Jeff shoved his hands in his jean pockets as he angrily stormed towards his car. He couldn't even believe his own fucking brother would basically accuse him of relapsing back into drugs. Yes, he had fucked up and had little relapses before. But now he was done with that. He couldn't afford to fuck up again. His job depended on him being sober and he intended to stay that way. He knew some people didn't believe in him, but Matt wasn't supposed to be one of those people. Matt was supposed to believe in him no matter what, and to hear Matt's doubts out loud hurt him._

_"Hey pretty thing!" some sleazy looking guy called out. "Come over here for a second!_

_Jeff ignored him. He hated assholes like that. For some reason, there were people out there absolutely convinced he was gay. He had no idea what in the world gave them that idea, but he was in no mood to deal with it tonight._

_He was unlocking his car door when a hand grabbed him by the back of the head and rammed him head first into the car window. He cried out in pain as his head smashed into the ground and the next thing he knew, a bag was being thrown over his head and his hands and feet were being tied together. "Help me!" he screamed. "Somebody help me!"_

"Jeff! Jeff! Jeff wake up!"

Matt's voice made Jeff wake up physically, but in his mind, he was still trapped in the nightmare of the night he was kidnapped. He yanked the feeding tube and all the IV's out of his body and tried to escape. It felt like he was still being tied up in that parking garage and he wanted to get away from that feeling.

Doctors and nurses came rushing in and they tried to help Matt keep a hold of Jeff. "Somebody help me!" Jeff screamed. He was flashing back to being shoved in a van and being kept there for hours as his kidnappers drove him to some warehouse in God knows where. When they finally let him out, he tried to get away but there was so many of them that they were able to catch him. They sedated him with drugs and then dragged him in the warehouse where they locked him in a cage for three days. He had to stay there until the auction. The auction that sold other men (some as young as fifteen) to sick sadists who wanted their own pets. It was at that auction that Robert got a hold of him.

It was at that auction his living hell really began.

"Jeff snap out of it!" Matt pleaded. "Come back to us, please!"

Jeff didn't snap out of it all at once though. He started to a little bit, but then the doctors and the nurses put him back in the bed and strapped him down to it. "No please don't," he begged. He didn't want to be strapped down on the bed. He didn't want to be helpless again. He fought weakly against the restraints even though it was no use. The little bit of strength he had recovered had been blown when he had tried to escape the room.

"Oh come on, is that necessary?" Gil asked. He sounded very upset with the doctors. "The boy had a nightmare. He doesn't need to be pinned down."

"We need to make sure he doesn't hurt himself," one of the doctors tried to explain.

_I was bad_, Jeff thought to himself. _I was bad again_. He began to sob. He knew what happened when he was bad. He got punished for what he did. Robert usually started a punishment by restraining him somehow. "No please don't hurt me," he begged. "Please I'll be good I promise. Don't hurt me."

Everybody just stared at him in shock. "Nobody is going to hurt you Jeff," Shannon assured him. "We would never hurt you."

Jeff shook his head. The words failed to soothe him. He had been bad. He had to be punished. Punishment involved pain. That was the way things worked.

Matt quickly let Jeff free from his restraints. "Here, is that better?" he asked. "You're not pinned down anymore. Does that make you feel better?"

Jeff just stared at his older brother. Matt didn't seem to get it. If he wasn't going to be punished, he had to make it better somehow. He had to show he was grateful that he wasn't being punished.

"What the hell are you doing?" Matt asked in disbelief as Jeff tried to reach for his belt buckle. "Jeff stop it!"

Jeff froze, finally comprehending that he was not with Robert anymore. He wasn't in the basement anymore, he wasn't a prisoner--he was in the hospital surrounded by Matt, his dad and Shannon. He snatched his hands away from Matt and covered his face up. He didn't want to see the look on Matt's face. Matt and the others wouldn't understand. They wouldn't understand because they hadn't gone through what he did. The things he had been forced to do…the things that had been done to him…he shuddered even thinking about it.

And to think, just one year ago he had been so determined to prove everybody wrong. He had been determined to prove the entire locker room, the fans, and even his own brother wrong and show he could stop screwing everything up. But now all that determination had been taken from him. Everything had been taken from him. His fight, his freewill, his sanity--all of it was gone. Now instead of wanting to stay clean, he desperately wanted to get high again. And not just a little high; he wanted to get so high that nothing could hurt him. He wanted to get high so he could escape the hell his mind was providing him now. And maybe, just maybe, he could get so high he would overdose and die, providing him the most permanent escape of all.


	4. Chapter 4

When Jeff was finally released from the hospital, it was decided that it was not a good idea for him to stay by himself. Matt decided to take Jeff into his house. He still felt responsible for the whole situation and wanted to make it better any way he could. By this time, Vince and the WWE were aware of Jeff being back, which led to Vince calling Matt right as he was trying to get Jeff settled in.

"Is Jeff doing okay?" Vince asked gently. Despite being an evil bastard most of the time, he was capable of having a heart from time to time.

"Not really," Matt said honestly. He couldn't lie to himself or anybody else. Somebody only had to look at Jeff and they could tell he wasn't okay. "He's pretty traumatized. He went through something pretty bad but he won't talk about it. He does have nightmares about it though. I can tell that much."

"Oh dear. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah. Could you give me some time off so I can stay with him? He really needs my help readjusting right now."

"Of course. Take all the time you need. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything else."

"Thanks Vince." Matt hung up the phone and looked over at Jeff. He had been staring out the window for about ten minutes straight now. "Are you okay?" Matt asked.

Jeff rested his forehead against the window. "It hurts," he said quietly.

Matt frowned. "What hurts?"

"Everything. It all hurts and I can't make it stop." He closed his eyes and grimaced. "I don't want it to hurt anymore."

Matt felt his heart breaking once again. That had been happening a lot around Jeff lately. It killed him seeing his brother in such pain. "Oh Jeff." He wrapped his arms around the smaller man. Jeff flinched at his touch. He flinched when anybody touched him. Even if they were trying to provide comfort, he still flinched.

Matt stroked Jeff's blonde hair, not knowing what else to do. But then he glanced down at the back of Jeff's neck. There was a burn there now, only it wasn't a normal looking burn. It looked like somebody took a hot iron and branded him. "What is this?" Matt asked. He moved Jeff's hair out of the way and gently traced his fingers over the burn. "Who did this?"

Jeff quickly jumped up and moved away from Matt. "I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled. He looked around desperately. "I can't do this. I can't--" He made a high pitched whining noise and ran from the room. Deeply concerned, Matt followed him into the bathroom.

Jeff started searching through the medicine cabinet. "Don't you have anything stronger than aspirin?" he whined. "I need something…anything…" He closed the cabinet and turned around. "Do you have any money? I'll pay you back, I swear."

"Why do you want money?" Matt asked. He had a bad feeling about what Jeff wanted but he didn't want to believe that his brother was even considering it.

"I just need something to take the edge off. I need a little something to make it not hurt anymore. Please Matt, I don't have any money with me."

"I'm not going to give you money. I'm not going to let you go out and buy something dangerous for yourself."

"No Matt, please, it'll just be some pills. The pills aren't so bad."

Matt grabbed Jeff by the arms and gave him a good shake. "I can't let you go back to the drugs Jeff. I care too much about you to let you do that."

Jeff shook his head stubbornly. "If you really loved me, you would let me have them!" He shoved Matt away and started punching the wall. Matt instinctively grabbed Jeff and restrained him as best as he could. "No!" Jeff screamed. He wasn't screaming out of anger though; now he sounded afraid. "Robert no! Please don't! I'll be good I swear!"

Matt felt his insides grow cold. He didn't know who Robert was, but he had a feeling that the bastard was responsible for Jeff's current state. "Jeff it's me," he reminded the distraught man. He turned Jeff around so they were face to face. "It's me Matt, remember? You're with me now. You're safe."

Jeff burst into tears and buried his face into Matt's chest. "Don't let Robert hurt me anymore," he begged. "Please don't let him hurt me."

"I won't," Matt assured him. "He's never going to hurt you ever again." _Because he's dead when I get my hands on him._


	5. Chapter 5

_Jeff pulled against his restraints as hard as he could. He was very pissed off at the moment. Honestly, who kidnapped people and then sold them to the highest bidder? Who the fuck did that shit? "Where the hell am I?" he snarled. "What the fuck do you want from me?"_

_Robert didn't turn around to face him. He was busy working on something that Jeff couldn't see. "You're in my basement. I thought that was obvious."_

_Jeff rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it!" He pulled against his chains again. "Come on dude, let me out of these things. This isn't even funny."_

_"Of course it's not funny," Robert replied calmly. "I wasn't joking around when I put you in those things." He turned around to reveal the fact he was holding a hot branding iron. "You've got a lot of fight in you Jeff. Now normally that sort of thing amuses me, but I didn't buy you to fight. I bought you to be my pet. And a good pet never fights his master."_

_"You are fucking insane!" Jeff informed him. He eyed the branding iron fearfully. He did not like the direction this whole thing was going. He didn't like it one little bit. "I'm not your pet. I'm a human being you bastard!"_

_Robert only grinned. "I know. That's why you're going to be so much fun to play with." He grabbed Jeff by the hair, jerked his head forward and pressed the hot branding iron on the back of Jeff's neck._

_The pain was unbelievable. Jeff screamed and tried to free himself. The smell of his own burning flesh was making him nauseous. "Stop it!" he begged. "Stop it!"_

XXXXXX

Jeff woke up screaming yet again. He tossed the covers off of him and fell right off the bed. He looked around wildly before crawling under his bed. That had felt way too real. He had actually felt the skin on the back of his neck burning. "Shit," he whispered. His heart was beating so hard that he could actually feel it in his chest.

Matt came running in, like he always did. "Jeff?"

"Go away," Jeff snapped. He didn't want to talk to Matt at the moment. Matt had been watching him like a hawk and had made it impossible for him to sneak off and go get some drugs. He had tried to explain to Matt that he needed to feel something besides the fear and the pain but Matt wasn't listening. It pissed him off that his own brother didn't even want to help him stop his pain.

Matt sighed and got down on his hands and knees. "Come on Jeff," he said as he stuck his head under the bed. "Please come out of there."

"Go away," Jeff repeated. "I'm fine."

"Liar. You're not fine and we both know it."

Jeff glared at him. "Well I would be fine if you weren't being so damn stubborn."

"Are you honestly still mad at me because I won't let you fuck up your life again?"

"Fuck you Matt," Jeff snapped. He crawled out from under the bed and stormed off. He went into the bathroom and slammed the door. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. Disgust and self hatred filled him. Nobody could understand how he felt. Not Matt, not Shannon, not even his dad could understand the mixture of emotions that plagued him constantly. The anger at himself, the anger at Matt, the craving for the drugs, the hating of himself for wanting to give in to that craving, the fear, the paranoia, the desperation--it was impossible to rest. He had been dreaming of being free for a year, but now that he was, the only thing that had changed was that he wasn't physically trapped. Now it was just his mind that was trapped.

He punched the mirror, shattering the glass. He cursed loudly. That was going to get Matt's attention. Matt was going to be barging in at any moment like the overprotective brother he was. Jeff needed an escape. He needed this hellish existence to end.

He saw the razor just sitting there. It was beckoning to him, just begging to be used. He picked it up and stared at it. He could hear Matt yelling at him and pounding on the door. There wasn't much time left. There was no time for hesitation. He gripped the razor tightly and slashed it across his wrist.

_Jeff bit his lip and tried to repress his moan of pain as Robert traced the knife over his stomach. This man was absolutely insane. Completely and totally fucking insane. _

_"Shallow cuts," Robert said as he pressed the knife a little harder. Jeff's stomach was a bloody mess. "Shallow cuts."_

Jeff threw down the razor. That had been a bad idea. Couldn't he do anything without having some horrible fucking flashback? Was that really too much to ask? He sank down to the floor and buried his face in his hands. He had no idea what to do anymore. Fuck, he was so pathetic. He couldn't even kill himself right.

Matt kicked the door open. "Jeff what did you do?" he asked. He grabbed a towel and put it on Jeff's wrist. "Why did you do this?"

"I just want it to stop," Jeff whispered. He didn't even have the strength to tell Matt to go away. "I just need it to stop." He closed his eyes and rested his head on Matt's shoulder. He didn't care what Matt did with him at this point. He couldn't even care enough to take care of himself, so he might as well let somebody else do it.

"I'm going to get you some help Jeff," Matt said as he scooped Jeff into his arms. "I'm going to get you the help you need."

_Nobody can help me Matt,_ Jeff thought to himself. _I'm just a lost cause. You might as well stop trying. I've already done it. Save yourself the trouble and don't save me. I'm not worth it._


	6. Chapter 6

Matt took Jeff to the hospital to get stitches on his wrist but he ultimately told the doctor it had just been an accident. Yes, maybe he should have said it was a suicide attempt. But when the moment came to say that, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had just gotten Jeff back. He was afraid the doctors would want to commit Jeff to some mental house if he told the truth.

Jeff didn't say anything the entire time the doctor stitched him up. He wouldn't even look at anybody. He seemed to be too lost in his own pain and anguish to form words.

Matt waited until they were back in the car going home before speaking. "Jeff?"

"What?"

"Tell me what happened to you man."

"Why? What does it matter?"

"Because it's fucking killing you dude! I don't know what to do anymore. I want to help you deal with this, but I can't unless you tell me everything."

Jeff glared at him. "What's the point? You don't want to know."

"Yes I do. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't."

"Just drop it Matt."

"I can't do that. You know I can't do that. You're my brother and I love you too much to not try to help you.

Jeff bit his lip. "Fine. Robert fucking bought me from the bastards that kidnapped me and spent a whole fucking year torturing me. There? Are you happy now?"

"He bought you? What the hell does that mean?"

"It means exactly the way it sounds. He spent his money on me so he could do whatever the fuck he wanted to me. He fucking beat me, starved me, cut me, burned me, rape---" Jeff tried to catch himself from saying that last part, but he hadn't been able to stop himself in time. The ugly truth was out of the bag now.

Matt gripped the steering wheel as tightly as he could. He could feel his whole body shaking out of pure anger. He wanted to find this bastard Robert and kill the fuck out of him. He wanted to kill him for Jeff, who's entire existence had been ruined just because the asshole wanted to amuse himself.

"Matt?" Jeff said hesitantly. His voice sounded like it was about to crack. "Can we go home now?"

Matt turned left instead of right, which was the way he needed to go to get back to his house. "I'm taking you to Dad's house. You're going to stay with him while I go back to Virginia and find that mother fucker."

Jeff's eyes widened. "Matt no! You can't go after Robert!"

"Why not? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill him."

"He'll hurt you. He's crazy Matt. He'll hurt you like he hurt me."

"He's not going to get a chance to do that," Matt growled. He was too angry to give in to Jeff's desperate pleas. He pulled his car into his dad's driveway and almost literally had to drag Jeff out of the car.

"Matt, what the hell are you doing?" Gil asked as he came out of the house. He had obviously heard the car pull up and came out to see what was going on.

"Dad don't let him go after Robert!" Jeff begged. For someone who had been pissed off at Matt earlier, he seemed very concerned about his brother's well being now. Maybe it was because he realized that Matt was deadly serious about going after Robert.

"Who is Robert?" Gil asked. "What is going on Matthew?"

Matt handed Jeff off to Gil. "Robert's the bastard that hurt him," he explained. "I don't know who the fucker is, but I'm going to go and find out. And when I do, he is a dead man walking."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff watched Matt drive off in shock. This was so beyond bad that it wasn't even funny. Yes he had taken some of his anger and fear out on Matt, but now all he wanted to do was chase Matt down and stop him from making this mistake. Robert was dangerous. Jeff hadn't told Matt what had happened the one time a girl had found him chained up in that cabin basement. Robert had caught her and he had killed her without any hesitation. And if Robert saw Matt, who had no idea, what the crazy bastard looked like…

"Come on," Gil said. He started guiding Jeff towards the house. "I'll call him and see if I can talk him out of this. Honestly, the boy has never has any sense when he's angry."

_Unfortunately no_, Jeff silently agreed. _He never has and probably never will._


	7. Chapter 7

Jeff paced back and forth nervously. Matt was not answering his cell phone. Gil had left several messages on his voice mail and even Jeff had tried calling. The messages he had left had him pleading for Matt to turn around and come back home. Now all he could do was wait and see if Matt listened to what he said. Somehow he doubted that would happen. Matt was too stubborn and protective to turn back now.

"He's going to be okay Jeff," Gil tried to assure his youngest son. "He just needs a little time to cool down."

Jeff shook his head. He couldn't bring himself to believe. "I shouldn't have told him what happened to me. Now he's going to go out and get himself killed and it's all my fault."

Gil sighed. "Jeff--"

Jeff ducked away from his father and ran into the bathroom. He slammed the door shut and locked it. He felt so helpless but he didn't know what to do. He opened up the medicine cabinet and found a bottle of pain pills sitting there. He just stared at them for a long time. He had no idea why they were there but he didn't care. The important thing was that they were there and there was nobody there to stop him from taking them.

_He curled up into the fetal position and shivered. The room was freezing cold and he was completely naked. He considered begging for either his clothes or a blanket but decided against it. Robert probably wouldn't even give him anything anyway._

_"Aw, is poor Jeffey cold?" Robert asked mockingly. He turned the Charismatic Enigma over on his stomach and held him down tightly._

_Jeff's eyes widened as he heard Robert's pants unzip. "No," he moaned. He tried desperately to fight even though he knew it was no use. The chains holding him were too strong. "No please don't. Please don't do this."_

_"Shut up," Robert snapped. He slapped Jeff on the back of the head. "I'm in no mood for any of your bullshit tonight."_

Jeff began punching himself on the head as hard as he could. "Stop it!" he growled at himself. "Stop it, stop it, stop it!" He hit himself so hard he busted his own eyebrow open. It hurt like hell but he didn't care anymore. It was better than reliving one of his rapes again.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Matt's number one more time. Once again, all he got was the voice mail. "Damn it Matt," he growled. "How many more ways can I beg for you not to do this? Why can't you just leave it be? Why can't you just let me forget?" He popped open the pill bottle. "I don't want you to play protector Matty. I just want to make it all stop." He sighed and shook his head. "I will make it stop. I'm going to make all the pain go away. I love you and I'm sorry. Tell Daddy that I love him too." He hung up the phone and tossed it away. He looked at the pills for a moment before dumping the whole bottle into his hand. "Here goes nothing," he muttered. "I hope this works."

XXXXXXXXXX

Matt had stopped to get some gas when he checked the messages on his phone. His dad and Jeff had left about a dozen messages all together. Almost all of them were the same. They were begging him to please come home and not do anything stupid. They didn't seem to get that this was something he felt like he had to do. He had to hurt the man who hurt Jeff so badly. He was about to just shut his phone off when he heard the last message from Jeff.

_Damn it Matt. How many more ways can I beg you not to do this? Why can't you just leave it be? Why can't you just let me forget? I don't want you to play protector Matty. I just want to make it all stop. I will make it stop. I'm going to make all the pain go away. I love you and I'm sorry. Tell Daddy that I love him too._

Matt's eyes widened. He suddenly had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. _Oh Jeff, please tell me you haven't done anything stupid_, he thought desperately as he tried to call Jeff back. There was no answer. "Shit!" he hung up and called Gil.

"Matt?" Gil said as soon as he answered the phone.

"Dad, where's Jeff?" Matt asked. "I got a message from him that sounded like he was about to do something bad."

"Well he went into the bathroom a little bit ago. I can go check on him."

Matt's eyes widened. "Do you still have those pain pills in there from your hip surgery?"

"Well yeah but…oh no. Jeff!"

Matt didn't need to be told what had happened. He already knew: Jeff had taken all the pills. He had tried to kill himself again. "Get him to the hospital," he said as he jumped back into his car. "I'll be there as soon as I can." He hung up his phone and sped off as fast as he could. _Oh God, please don't let Jeff die. Please don't let him die…_


	8. Chapter 8

Matt drove to the hospital as fast as he possibly could. All he could think about was Jeff. He prayed and prayed that he wasn't going to get there and find out his little brother had died. He knew he wouldn't be able to handle it. If Jeff died, then his whole world really was going to fall apart around him. He didn't know if he would be able to go on if it happened. _Please let him live oh God please don't let Jeff die…_

He ran into the hospital as fast as his legs would carry him. Gil, Shannon and Shane were sitting in the living room. "They're pumping his stomach," Shannon said before Matt could say anything. "It's bad but he's still alive."

"So he's not completely out of the woods yet?" Matt said hesitantly.

Shane shook his head. "No. I don't think he will be for awhile yet."

Matt groaned and sank down into the nearest chair. His legs felt extremely weak at the moment. "Jesus Christ. This is the second time in the past twenty four hours I've been here. I can't handle this shit anymore. What am I doing wrong? Why can't I help Jeff?"

Gil shook his head. "I don't think there's anything more we can do for him. He's too traumatized by what happened and he can't deal with it. He's just going to keep trying to kill himself unless we do something drastic."

Matt felt like his blood was starting to run cold. He didn't like the determined look on his dad's face and he didn't like the way Shannon and Shane were looking down nervously. "What do you mean by drastic? What do you want to do Dad?"

Gil sighed. "I think we need to put Jeff into an institution to get round the clock therapy."

Nobody said anything for several moments. Matt couldn't believe those words had come out of his own father's mouth. "You want to lock Jeff up? Dad he needs us! He's depending on us!"

"He slit his wrists and tried to overdose within a twenty four hour span. I know you feel guilty and I know you want to help him--"

"You don't know what I feel Dad!" Matt yelled angrily. He stood up. "We're not talking about this anymore."

"YES WE DAMN WELL ARE!"

Matt flinched. He had never heard his father yell like that before. "We just got him back Dad," he said quietly. "I don't want him to go away again."

Gil's face softened. "I know Matt, but I'm trying to keep Jeff alive. What if he hadn't left you that message Matt? What if he just overdosed himself and let himself die on the bathroom floor without anybody realizing it. What if next time he chooses to hang himself or he buys a gun and shoots himself in the head? We can't watch him every single moment of the day and he's not going to let us help him willingly. We have to think about his well being, even if he's going to hate us for it."

Matt looked down. He knew his dad wanted to make sure Jeff didn't try to kill himself again but he didn't have the heart to even think about willingly locking his baby brother up. "I won't let you do it. I can't let you do it. And he's a grown man. He doesn't have to do it if he doesn't want to."

Gil shook his head. "I don't know if he's going to get a choice in this Matt. He's obviously not in the right state of mind to take care of himself. The choice might come to me and I will do what I believe is right to get him the help he needs."

The doctor came out to see them. "Jeff's alive," he announced. "But he'll have to be here a couple of days for observation." He looked at Gil. "But given the two suicide attempts so close together--"

"The cuts were an accident," Matt said immediately. He didn't care if he was blatantly lying. He didn't want to have his little brother taken away again.

"Matt," Gil said slowly.

Matt refused to look at him. "I want to see Jeff," he told the doctor. "I want to see him now."

"He's up in the ICU but--"

Matt didn't let the doctor finished. He stormed off towards the ICU and went in without permission. He found Jeff lying in one of the beds, all pale and sickly looking and unconscious. Matt's heart broke all over again. It had been doing that so often he was surprised it could break into any smaller pieces. "Oh Jesus," he moaned. He sat down next to Jeff and rested his head against his. He knew that if Gil was as determined as he sounded, Jeff wouldn't be coming home for quite awhile. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'll try to get you back home with me but I don't know if I can." He moved some of Jeff's hair out of his face. The Enigma wasn't responding though. "Oh Jeff," Matt sighed. "I'm sorry. God I'm sorry. I hope you don't hate me if I can't stop Daddy from taking you away again."


	9. Chapter 9

Jeff could hardly believe what was going on. There was no way this was happening. It was several days after his suicide attempt and now that he had recovered enough, he was being transferred to a psychiatric hospital. He was being put in a fucking nuthouse and nobody was doing anything to stop it.

"I'm not going!" he shouted. He tried to break free from the doctors and nurses who had a hold of him. "I'm not crazy!" He looked at Gil. "Dad, please make them stop. I don't want to go. I'm sorry about the pills, okay? It was dumb but I won't do it again I swear!"

Gil just looked down. He looked very upset, but also very determined. "I'm sorry Jeff. I don't want to do this, but I'm not your death on my conscience. You need more help than I can give you."

Jeff closed his eyes and turned his head away. It hurt to hear that his own father thought he needed to be locked away. Maybe he did need that type of help, but he didn't want it. He didn't want to be locked away like a prisoner and be unable to get free until he was "better". He had been a prisoner long enough to last a life time. "Matt," he said desperately. "Matty help me." He opened his eyes to look for his older brother.

Matt was now standing in front of Jeff and the doctors. He had a pained and conflicted look in his eyes. "Dad, you know I don't want this," he said quietly. He kept stepping in the way every time the doctors took a step forward.

"Son, I don't see another way," Gil said sadly.

"Sir, you need to move out of the way," one of the doctors told Matt.

Matt shook his head. "Sorry Dad, but I can't let this happen." Without any more warning, he started decking doctors right and left. "Jeff run!" he ordered. "Run now!"

Jeff broke free from the chaos and took off running as fast as he could. Matt was on his heels just seconds later. They ran out the hospital's front doors and were jumping into Matt's car in record time. Matt literally burned rubber as his car screeched out of the parking lot.

"Daddy's not going to be happy," Jeff managed to say. He could hardly believe what had just happened. He had expected Matt to talk their father out of the whole hospitalization thing. He hadn't thought the plan would be as simple as running away.

Matt shook his head. "I told him I didn't want all that to happen. I know he cares about you and doesn't want you to try to kill yourself again. That's why he was doing that."

Jeff looked down. He knew that too. And what made it worse was that it was his own damn fault. He had been the one who had chosen to escape his pain by trying to end it all right in his dad's house. He shouldn't have done it while Gil was home. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Matt looked over at him. "Sorry that you did it or sorry that you got caught?"

Jeff couldn't answer him.

Matt sighed. "Jeff, I'm not giving you up again after I just got you back. I don't want you locked up in some hospital against your will. But if you try it again…" He shook his head. "If you try to kill yourself again, I'll take you to that hospital myself. Do you understand me?"

Jeff nodded. He knew Matt wasn't fucking around. "Okay." He looked out the window. "Where are we going?"

"We're going home to get our stuff and then we're getting out of this town. I think it'll be better if we get away for awhile. Daddy's really not going to be happy with me," Matt said.

"So where will we go?"

"I have no fucking idea."

Neither of them spoke again for awhile. Matt parked his car in his driveway. They went inside and packed a couple of bags each. Jeff had no idea how long they were planning on being gone. He would ask but he doubted Matt knew either. He made sure to pack a good amount of clothes and some stuff to draw with. Matt would like to see him draw. He would think things were going back to normal if he saw Jeff drawing. But Jeff knew the truth. Things could never really be normal again. He could try to make them, but things had changed forever. Even if it was just under the surface, everything would still be different.

Jeff happened to glance out the window. A black SUV was driving by the house. A bad feeling crept up inside of him. It looked familiar. He squinted his eyes and looked as hard as he could. But once he saw the driver, he wished he hadn't. He stepped away from the window and threw himself into the corner. _Oh God he could have seen me, he could have seen, he probably did see, he knows where I am…_

Matt came into the room. "Jeff what is it?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"I saw him driving by," Jeff whispered. His heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn't believe this was happening. He couldn't take it. Not again, never again.

"Who? Who was driving by?"

"Robert."


	10. Chapter 10

Matt's eyes widened. "You saw Robert?" he said in disbelief. If Jeff wasn't just being paranoid and panicky, then this was bad. This was really bad.

Jeff nodded. He looked scared out of his mind. "I saw his face Matty. I know it was him. He knows where I am and he's going to take me away again."

"No he's not," Matt said quickly. He pulled Jeff to his feet and started helping him out of the room. "We're going to get out of here and we're going to go somewhere that he'll never find us." He found Lucas in the hallway and he picked up the little dog while keeping a tight hold of Jeff. The three of them got out to the car and Matt was just about to start the vehicle when he heard something.

It was a gun being cocked.

"I'd be very careful if I were you Matthew," the man who was sitting in the backseat said. He was a well dressed man who kind of looked like Christian Bale when he was in _American Psycho_. "You don't want to force me to shoot you. That'll leave nobody else to protect poor Jeff from me."

Jeff was as white as a ghost. "Robert please--"

Robert backhanded Jeff across the face. "Shut up you fucking piece of shit. Did I fucking tell you that you could speak?"

Matt fought the urge to panic. Panicking wasn't going to get them out of this. He had to find a way to get the gun away from Robert and keep Jeff safe. "Keep your fucking hands off my brother," he growled. "Don't you fucking touch him."

"Hey, I'll do whatever I want to him," Robert said with a smirk. He pressed the barrel of the gun directly against Matt's head. "I'm the guy with the gun so I will be calling the shots around here. Now you will drive to the interstate and get us into Virginia. I'll tell you where to go from there. Jeff, you come back here with me."

Jeff was shaking so badly that Lucas climbed on to his lap and tried to comfort him. "No," he moaned. "No please leave me alone. Just leave me alone."

Robert glared at him. "Jeff, you know what happens if I have to tell you something again."

Matt took Lucas so Jeff could very reluctantly climb into the back. He started driving, keeping one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding Lucas. There had to be a way out of this. He could hear Jeff whimpering and crying in the backseat. He didn't look to see if Robert was doing anything though. He couldn't bear the sight of it if the bastard was. He would lose it completely if he saw the animal hurting his brother.

He had to drive for about an hour before he saw his window of opportunity. Robert had relaxed enough to the point that the gun wasn't constantly pointed at anyone. They came across an old bridge that went over a river. Matt finally looked back at the rearview mirror at Jeff. Jeff gulped but he seemed to understand the message that Matt was conveying with his eyes. Silently, Matt pressed the button that would make his and Jeff's window go down.

"Boys, what are you doing?" Robert asked as Matt started pressing on the gas even harder. "You're not trying anything are you?"

Matt smirked. "I thought it was a little hot so I figured we could cool off." Without hesitating any longer he swerved the car as hard as he could and made it go flying off the bridge down into the water below. Water started coming in fast through the open windows, filling the car and making it sink. Matt got his seatbelt undone and managed to keep a hold of Lucas as he crawled out his window and up to the surface. "Jeff!" he yelled. "Jeff!"

"Matt!" Jeff yelled. He was swimming as fast as he could towards his big brother. "Matt!"

"Come on," Matt ordered. They got to the shore as fast as they could. Robert couldn't be seen yet but it couldn't possibly be long before he managed to get out of the car. They ran into woods, neither of them having any real idea exactly where they were going. Lucas was definitely not happy about their current predicament and Matt felt bad for the poor little dog. But he couldn't stop to comfort the closest thing he had to a son. They had to keep moving.

"What are we going to do?" Jeff asked. He kept looking back fearfully. "Where are we going to go?"

"I don't know," Matt said. He stopped and looked back. "Is he even chasing us?"

Jeff stopped too. "I don't think so." His eyes suddenly widened. "If he knew where you lived, wouldn't he know where Daddy lives?"

Matt just froze. That was a good point. What if Robert had decided to go back instead of trying to chase them down. What if he went after their dad? "Take Lucas," he ordered. "Take him and run. I'll go back and get Daddy."

"Matt wait, you can't--"

Matt wasn't listening. He was already off and running back to the direction of Cameron. He had to get there in time to save his dad. He just had to.


	11. Chapter 11

Jeff hugged Lucas tightly. He didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to keep running. He didn't want to be anywhere near Robert. But he couldn't bear the thought of allowing Gil and Matt to deal with Robert themselves. Robert was too dangerous. He would find a way to get the best of them and then he would hurt them. Jeff knew this from personal experience.

"It's okay Lucas," Jeff said in a shaky voice. He started walking back towards the direction of his dad's house. "It's going to be okay Lucas. Uncle Jeff is going to protect your daddy and your grandpa. Uncle Jeff is going to protect them from the bad man."

Lucas just wagged his tail and licked Jeff's face. He believed Jeff could do it.

_What the hell are you doing?_ a doubting voice in his head asked him. _What exactly do you plan on doing if you get back to your dad's place and Robert really is there? What if Gil and Matt don't get the best of him and he hurts them like he hurt you? How exactly are you going to stop him?_

"I don't know," he whimpered out loud. He honestly didn't know how he planned on stopping Robert. "I have to help Daddy and Matt though. I have to help them because Robert's bad. He's a very bad man."

_Yeah, I'll agree with you there,_ the voice said. _He's so bad that he'll probably just kill your daddy and Matt and he'll be there just waiting for you to come back so he can take you away again._

"Shut up!" Jeff yelled, startling the hell out of Lucas. He took several deep breaths and picked up his pace a little. He couldn't think like that. He had to help Matt. He had to do something because this was never going to stop as long as Robert was alive. Robert would just keep coming after him until he took him back. Jeff didn't want that to happen. He didn't want to end up being chained up in some basement. He didn't want to be tortured for Robert's sick pleasure. And he definitely did not want to be raped ever again. And he could not allow any of that to happen to anyone else. He couldn't let anyone be broken like he had been.

It was time to pull himself together again and stop being broken long enough to stop Robert. He had to do it for Matt and Gil's sake.

He just got back on the road when a car pulled up beside him. "Jeff!" Shannon yelled. "What are you doing? What's going on? Where's Matt?"

Jeff got into the car without even asking. "Dad's house, now!" he said, panting for breath. "Robert…Matt…trouble…Daddy…just go!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

When Matt got to his dad's house, he resisted the urge to just go barging in and attracting a whole bunch of attention to himself. He carefully went to each window he could get to and peeked in. He saw that Robert had Gil trapped in the laundry room. "Bastard," he muttered. He ran around the shed that was in the backyard. This had to end tonight. He went into the shed and grabbed the ax that was in there. This would work well enough.

_I hope Jeff just keeps on running,_ Matt thought to himself as he slipped into the house through the back door. _If for some reason I don't stop Robert, then he's going to need to get as far as he can get._

Robert stepped out of the laundry room and saw him with the ax. They both just stared at each other for a moment. Time seemed to stand still. Then Matt let out a yell and swung the ax at Robert. He ducked and the blade got stuck in the wall. Matt yanked it out and swung again. Robert avoided it again and it got stuck in the other wall this time. Robert speared Matt to the ground and they went rolling down the hallway. The ax was still in the wall, completely out of reach for both of them.

"Come here you bastard!" Matt snarled. He had never felt this homicidal before. He hadn't even wanted to kill Adam this badly after the whole Amy fiasco. But right now, he honestly wanted to kill Robert so bad he could taste it. He picked Robert up and slammed him up against the wall. He started punching the man that had hurt his brother over and over again as hard as he could. Screw the damn ax. He was just going to beat this bastard to death with his bare hands.

Robert dropped down to his knees and hit Matt between his legs. Matt doubled over in pain and found himself being shoved to the ground. Now it was Robert who was punching him and he could barely defend himself. Robert placed his hands around Matt's throat and started to squeeze. Matt tried to pry them up but the damn bastard was way stronger than he looked and his grip wasn't loosening…

Suddenly Shannon came bursting through the front door and he forced Robert off of Matt. Matt gasped for breath and scooted back. He saw Jeff standing by the front door, just watching Shannon and Robert fight. He wanted to say something but he didn't want to attract Robert's attention to his brother. So he kept using his hands to signal for Jeff to start running again. Jeff had to get out. He just had to.

Jeff didn't run though. His gaze fell on the ax that was stick stuck in the wall. Matt suddenly knew what Jeff was planning on doing. He crawled over so he was behind Robert and returned the low blow he had received. Jeff pulled the ax out of the wall. Matt and Shannon both shoved Robert as hard as they could at the same time Jeff started swinging the ax. The blade went directly into Robert's forehead, almost splitting it completely in half. Jeff let out a startled cry and jumped back. Matt grabbed the ax handle and yanked the weapon out before driving it back in just for good measure.

"Holy shit," Shannon muttered. "What the hell did we just do?"

Matt looked over at Jeff. His baby brother looked absolutely stunned. "Is he dead?" Jeff asked quietly.

Matt checked for a pulse. "Yeah," he said. "He's definitely dead."

Jeff let out a relieved noise before passing out completely. Matt and Shannon barely caught him before he hit the ground. They carefully set him down on the couch. Matt knelt down beside Jeff and kissed him on the forehead. "It's over Jeffey," he whispered. "It's over. You're going to be okay. He can't hurt you ever again."


	12. Chapter 12

Jeff regained consciousness several hours later. He woke up to find out Matt and Shannon had buried Robert somewhere in the woods. He didn't ask for the exact location and they didn't tell him. Matt just fussed over him while Shannon patched Gil up. Jeff was in such a state of shock that all his emotions had shut down. He couldn't even feel the relief of knowing that Robert was dead and gone. It was like he was in a perpetual state of disbelief and he couldn't find his way out.

All he did for the next two days was sleep and eat when Matt forced him to. Matt was by his side constantly, worried sick that killing Robert had broken him somehow. Jeff wanted to tell him that he had been broken way before that and now he just wasn't sure if it was safe to start getting fixed again. He was waiting to see if this was all a dream and he was going to wake up in Robert's basement again. It wouldn't have been the first time that had happened.

Finally, on the third day, Jeff woke up with the sun shining directly on his face. Somebody had gone and left the blinds completely opened. He groaned and sat up. Matt had fallen asleep on the bed with him. Being careful not to wake his older brother, he slowly crawled out of bed, slipped some clothes on and left the room. The entire house was quiet. Nobody else was awake. He slipped out the front door, blinking several times because outside was so bright. For the first time in days in a long time, he felt absolutely calm. Whatever shock had seemed to have taken him over for the past couple of days seemed to be gone.

Without even knowing what he was doing, he walked to where his partly rebuilt house was. He had been taken before it had been finished. Now that he was back, he was going to have to get it finished. He walked past the house and soon found himself heading towards the sight of Liger and Jack's graves. His two most beloved dogs were dead and buried six feet under the ground--just like Robert was now.

Suddenly Jeff felt weak in his legs and he collapsed down on the ground. Robert was really gone. This whole thing had not been a dream after all. Jeff began to laugh hysterically. Or maybe he was just sobbing, because there were tears coming down his face. Or maybe he was doing both. He didn't really know at this point. All he knew was that he felt like a huge weight had been taken off his chest. He didn't have to be afraid all the time anymore. He was free again.

After he calmed down, he just laid down on the ground and looked up at the sky. He was enough in the shade so the sun wouldn't blind him. He just stared at nothing for awhile, but then something caught his attention. There was a cloud that looked like something he had seen before, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"Jeff! Jeff!" Matt came running over to him. "Are you okay?"

Suddenly Jeff knew what it was. "Holy crap!" he said. He got up and made Matt lie down where he had just been. "Look up at that one cloud up there and tell me what it looks like."

Matt frowned. "What?"

"Just do it."

Still confused, Matt did what he was told. It took him a few minutes, but he eventually saw it too. "Holy crap…Jeff does that thing look like--"

"Orton's gigantic thighs? Yeah, it really does," Jeff said. He laughed and looked up at the cloud again. "I would take a picture to show him, but he'll just get all pissy and start threatening me. And honestly, I've been threatened more than enough for one life time."

Matt sat up. He had a concerned look on his face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Jeff thought about it for a moment. "No," he finally decided. "I'm okay. I think I covered everything I needed to say when I put that ax in his head." He pulled Matt to his feet. "I'm tired of obsessing over all of this. I just want to start living my life again."

Matt nodded. "Okay."

They started walking back towards the house. Jeff was suddenly struck by an idea. "Smackdown is in Raliegh tonight, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Matt confirmed. "Why?"

Jeff grinned. "Well…if I'm going to start living my life again…why shouldn't we go see some old friends?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Oh my God!"

"Why didn't you call us sooner?"

"Oh it's so good to see you!"

"Jeffey!"

Jeff grinned happily as Maria, Eve and the Bella twins started hugging him like crazy. "Matt look at me! I'm a pimp!"

Matt rolled his eyes. "Don't rub it in jackass."

Jeff grinned and stuck out his tongue at his brother. He felt so unbelievably good at the moment that it felt like nothing could spoil it for him. With the girls still attached to him, he made his way to the vending machine. "Okay, one of you has to move," he told them. "I cannot consume candy if I can't even get the money out of my pocket."

"Oh Hardys," Hunter suddenly called out. He had a big grin on his face. "How are my favorite brothers doing?"

Matt looked at the Game suspiciously. "Okay, what do you want?"

Hunter looked shocked. "That hurts Hardy. It really does. But now that you mention it, I could use two more partners for Survivor Series."

"Hey I'll do it for you but Jeff he just--"

"Matt it's cool," Jeff said. He got the Skittles he wanted and put them in his pocket. "I'm okay. I'm not going to break again."

Matt gave him an uncertain look. "Are you sure? I don't want you to do anything you're not ready to do."

"Well if it makes you feel better, tonight's not even a match," Hunter said. "It's just me introducing Randy's team to my teammates. And by introduce, I mean we're going to beat the crap out of them."

Jeff nodded. Maybe he was jumping back into things too soon, but it didn't feel like the wrong thing to do. He had been serious about living his life again. "Okay. Let's do this." He put his arm around Matt and they started following Hunter.

"Are you going to be okay doing this?" Matt whispered to him as they approached Shawn and Dave (the other two people on their team).

"I've got to try," Jeff said. That was the truth. How was he going to know if he was anywhere near ready to come back full time if he didn't just go out to the ring and started doing stuff?

Hunter patted Jeff on the shoulder. "Let Matt come down to the ring first," he said. "You're the big surprise here." He froze and quickly looked at Matt. "Not that the fans won't be happy to see you again too."

Matt grinned. "It's cool Hunter. I get it. I know how much the fans have missed Jeff."

Jeff bounced on his heels. So he had been missed. That was a comforting thought.

Hunter, Shawn and Dave went out to the ring first. Things quickly broke down into a brawl (like they always did), and that's when Matt hit the ring. Jeff waited anxiously as Randy's team regained the advantage a couple of minutes after Matt had come to save the day. _This is it, this is it_, his mind kept saying over and over again.

Jeff's music hit and it was like somebody had lit a fire under his ass. He ran out through the curtain and was treated to the sound of twenty five thousand people becoming completely unglued. He slid into the ring and took down Cody and Ted with a couple of clotheslines. Randy and Adam were already bailing out of the ring, so he grabbed Chris and gave him a Twist of Fate. Without missing a step, he got up on the top rope and performed a Swanton Bomb on the helpless Jericho.

Matt was beaming as he pulled Jeff into a hug. "You okay little brother?" he asked.

Jeff nodded. "I haven't felt this good in forever." He pulled away from Matt and soaked in the adulation from the crowd. It felt good to be out here right now. It made him feel like he hadn't been broken in the first place, even though he knew he had. He knew that deep down, he was always going to be effected by the hell he went to. But the important thing was that for the most part, he was Jeffery Nero Hardy again. And that was all he needed to be at this point.


End file.
